


Their Bleeding Red Hearts

by Draco_sollicitus



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: F/M, For Sinful Sunday, Greek Gods and Goddesses - Freeform, Greek Mythology AU, Hades and Persephone AU, Heavy References to Pomegranates, Poe as Hades, Rey as Persephone, Romance, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-18
Updated: 2018-11-18
Packaged: 2019-08-25 15:53:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16663765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Draco_sollicitus/pseuds/Draco_sollicitus
Summary: The goddess of springtime meets the lord of the underworld, and the galaxy will never be the same.Kore means to pull away quickly, but now the god stares at her, and she finds herself frozen, returning his gaze. It is odd - she has known vitality her whole life, she sprang forth from the union of her father and mother bursting with energy, feeling what she was sure was the full expanse of emotion - but this is entirely alien. A heat blooms in her gut, not at all like the shine of her cousin’s fair chariot, and she wants to chase it, she wants to...to....“Thank you, Kore.” He pauses and licks his bottom lip, and Kore is certain she is an inferno, a beacon of fire, turned to ash.“Rey,” she whispers. “I - you can call me Rey.”“Thank you, Rey.” She shivers. “I am called Poe.”The name stirs an ancient memory in her breast - the mortals call him something different, but the mortals never really get anything right - and Rey nods faintly. The red of the flower seems to increase in intensity, and then Poe bows to her, whispering, “Goodbye, little princess,” as he walks away.





	Their Bleeding Red Hearts

**Author's Note:**

> This is smutty (at the end)
> 
> Warnings: References to rape of an unnamed character and some violent retribution on Rey's part

A man screams in pain as wild dogs set in on him; the sun shines merrily above, and over the din of his death, birds sing ever so sweetly in the lush thicket beyond this clearing.

Kore watches all this dispassionately, and as limbs are shredded and blood is spilled, she thinks to herself, _good._

His suffering is a small offering, one she sought diligently these last twenty-four hours, ever since she came across the maiden in the clearing. Her dear friend Ahsoka - Artemis, to the mortals of this land - helped her to bury the body, and together they wept for the dead.

 _Let me, sister,_ Kore had whispered when Ahsoka strung her bow. _This one is mine._ Ahsoka had nodded and walked off through the woods to rejoin her hunt, and Kore had begun to lay her trap.

The flowers, fields of poppy, carefully planted, to make him fall asleep. The dogs, eager to please a goddess, to tear him limb from limb.

Now, he dies like a coward, screaming for a mother who should have taught him better, and Kore watches it, a silent witness to the justice she is able to provide to the dead girl.

His last breath comes weakly, a pathetic whimper, and Kore pats each dog on the head before they scamper off into the wilderness. She turns to leave, but a rush of wind passes through the clearing, and she turns. Kore feels as though she has become stone when she sees who stands above the youth’s body.

The god of the underworld has arrived - for _this_? For this pathetic cretin? Kore bristles, but the god does not grieve. He merely kneels, his grey chiton brushing the ground, and begins to loosen the spirit from its body; but Kore cannot hold her tongue.

“Sir,” she calls out, pretending to be timid while she walks back towards the corpse. “What brings you here?”

“Thanatos is busy elsewhere.” Smooth and rich, almost like honey, his voice is nothing like she’d imagined it - neither is his appearance, to be honest. He is almost tragically handsome, with a plush, wide mouth, large eyes, and a distinctive nose. His eyes droop slightly at the corner, giving him the appearance of permanent gloom. “And as I doubt you intend to bury him, little princess, I must ensure his spirit is delivered to my realm.”

“Does the god of the underworld really do deliveries?” She asks sweetly, masking as always the current of rage that pulses through her, waves of new life with every breath.

“He does when it’s his brother’s son who’s been murdered.” He lifts the boy’s spirit, and Kore watches it detach, sticky and tacky, from the body. “I promised to take care of this.”

“He does not deserve sympathy.” Kore hears her voice change, can feel it crackle with the energy of her father - Anakin, who apparently also sired this bastard before them. “My father should know that.”

“Maybe not.” The god rises fluidly, and Kore watches his lips twitch. He looks even more handsome when he smiles - even if it’s brief. She wonders if he has cause to smile often. “But, he does deserve justice. And I will make sure he faces it.”

“Thank you.” Kore studies her bare feet for a moment. “The girl he...has she received justice?”

“She...” The god tilts his head and thinks for a moment - _is he trying to think of a suitable lie_? “Ah. She is in the Fields.”

“It is not her fault she died without proving her place as a hero,” Kore snaps, storming forward. She jabs her finger at the god’s nose - _mistake, mistake, this is the infernal ruler, this is the god of the underworld_ \- and he blinks impassively at her. “He robbed her of any chance she had of a life. He _hurt_ her, he _killed_ her. Why should that affect where she went? She should remain locked into those fields for an eternity because of _his_ cowardice?” She jabs the god over where his heart should be, if he had one; surprisingly, his body is warm.

“I do not judge the dead.” He does not move away from her finger, nor does Kore retreat. “But, I can assure you, the depictions of Asphodel are entirely false. She is in no pain, and she has been reunited with her family.”

“You do not make the dead drink from the Lethe? They retain their memories?” Kore feels foolish. She’d always assumed the rumors were true.

“Aye.” His smile is back now, hesitant, as though he does not truly remember how to smile. “The Fields are a place where life merely continues. They are quite lovely; the flowers are like nothing that is grown here on earth.” His smile widens. “No offense to current company, of course.” Kore flushes (and she wants to remind him it is Chloris who is dedicated to flowers, and Kore merely assists), and the god finally steps away from her. “You should see them some time.”

She watches, agape, as he walks away with the spirit of the damned. Then, she startles forward. “Wait!” He does, and turns around to face her. His smile is already gone, but she thinks it lingers in his eyes. Kore walks towards him quickly, and sweeps her hand over the ground. A beautiful red flower bursts forth, and she plucks it delicately. “To brighten your outfit,” she teases. On some instinct, she surges forward and tucks the flower behind his ear. “Much better.”

Kore means to pull away quickly, but now the god stares at her, and she finds herself frozen, returning his gaze. It is odd - she has known vitality her whole life, she sprang forth from the union of her father and mother bursting with energy, feeling what she was sure was the full expanse of emotion - but this is entirely alien. A heat blooms in her gut, not at all like the shine of her cousin’s fair chariot, and she wants to chase it, she wants to...to....

“Thank you, Kore.” He pauses and licks his bottom lip, and Kore is certain she is an inferno, a beacon of fire, turned to ash.

“Rey,” she whispers. “I - you can call me Rey.”

“Thank you, Rey.” She shivers. “I am called Poe.”

The name stirs an ancient memory in her breast - the mortals call him something different, but the mortals never really get anything right - and Rey nods faintly. The red of the flower seems to increase in intensity, and then Poe bows to her, whispering, “Goodbye, little princess,” as he walks away. She stands in the meadow for a second before she thinks to run after him.

She moves swiftly, silently, the way Ahsoka trained her when her father refused, flitting from tree to tree. If Poe knows he is being followed, he does not give any sign. He moves steadily, the world around him draining of color as he moves through it - the colors flare back up to their normal hue after he passes, and Rey thinks that maybe it is because he is so handsome, that the world pales in comparison, and not that he purposefully drains it of life - and eventually he comes to an opening, a cave that Rey does not remember.

He passes through, and Rey emerges from the treeline, swiftly walking to the entrance. It is a chasm, a yawning, terrible split in the earth, and a cold, dead wind whistles out of it. She shivers with dread and maybe something a little too akin to desire, and takes a step forward.

The sky crackles with lightning, an oddity on a clear day, and Rey jolts guiltily and runs back the way she came.

But, as she lays down amongst the flowers that evening, all she can think of as she traces the constellations with her finger, is the way Poe had smiled - and the stars seem to diminish in comparison.

***

In three weeks time, Rey cannot control her curiosity any longer. She seeks out the cave once more, and it takes her several days to find it, tracing her way through the fields and trees she knows so well, until she stumbles across the entrance. Its inky blackness seems to leak out into the world around it, but Rey knows her father is busy elsewhere - a giggling nymph had caught his eye, and she does not want to think what Padme - who barely accepts Rey’s existence, and Rey is an immortal - will do to the young nymph when she and Anakin are found out.

Taking a deep breath, and summoning her courage, Rey walks forward. The darkness surrounds her, welcomes her, and she finds it is not as consuming as she feared it to be. It envelops her much like a mother’s embrace, and Rey traces the wall as the ground begins to slope downwards. A mist hovers around her bare feet, and clings to her light blue chiton, but as she descends, it grows lighter, not darker.

The path winds downwards, and the mist seems to pluck at her, testing her vitality. Rey does not fear it, but she does fear the path - she can now see a void to her right, massive, frightening, perhaps the entrance to Tartarus. One missed step, and she will fall for an eternity, trapped amongst the Titans and villainous immortals who enraged the pantheon.

Rey cannot tell for how long she walks - an hour, or a decade - but she does come to a halt eventually, at deep, reverberating growl that shakes the ground she walks on.

She’d been staring at her feet for so long on her descent, that she forgot to look up - and now she stands in front of a massive paw, easily longer than her normal form. Rey tilts her head back, and her mouth falls open in shock -

Standing before her is a gargantuan dog with three separate heads, great globs of drool forming at the corner of each mouth. Cerberus, the famed guardian, is real, and she might just be its next meal. Rey understands she should be afraid, but the dog does not move to attack, so the fear quickly fades back into curiosity. “Hello,” she says loudly, hoping the dog can hear and understand her. “Good boy?”

Three giant noses scent the air, and then to her surprise, Cerberus sits back on his bottom, and a strong wind picks up. It comes from his tail, which is at least fifteen feet long, and waves merrily. The middle head moves towards her, and Rey stands as still as possible. When it’s within reach, she scratches at the snout, above the wet, black nose. Its fur is soft, and well-kept.

“Good boy,” she says more decisively, and Cerberus whines with pleasure.

“I would ask what you were doing here, but I can see you’re trying to kidnap my dog.” Rey looks up quickly, and so does Cerberus. The dog jumps back to his feet and pants excitedly, and Rey blushes madly at the sight of Poe, once more in his drab garments, but with sandals of gold on his feet. He is smiling, so she does not think herself in any trouble.

“I think I can carry him,” Rey says after her surprise has passed.

Startled, Poe blinks but then roars with laughter. His laughter is unlike anything she’s ever heard: the light around them - which had previously been a pleasant, soft sort of light - flares, and Cerberus’s tail resumes its wagging, and while Poe laughs, the ground shakes. A fountain of gold bursts forth from the ground, rubies and emeralds and sapphires tumbling in the stream, and it continues for as long as he laughs.

“You are full of surprises, Kore.” Poe wipes his eyes, and Rey stares in shock at the pool of precious gems and metals in front of her.

“You are too,” she says. “And I asked you to call me Rey.” _My father calls me Kore,_ she wants to say. _I hate it._

“Kore is a fitting name for a maiden,” Poe points out casually, walking forward to scratch Cerberus under each chin. The dog lowers each head in turn to receive a scratch.

“I am not a fitting person for the name,” Rey snaps, and then she winces. “I am sorry,” she whispers. “I intrude in your home, and then I argue with you. You must think me an idiot.”

“No.” Poe’s smile is still firmly in place. “I think many things of you, but not that.” To her surprise, he offers her his arm. “Walk with me, Rey?”

She takes his arm eagerly, and they walk past Cerberus, who whines sadly. “I see you’ve charmed my Bee.”

“Bee?” Rey tilts her head at him, and Poe’s smile is crooked, and somehow more devastating than his full one.

“Cerberus can be a mouthful. I call him many names, but Bee is the one he gets when he is being good.”

“What does he get when he’s being bad?” Rey asks teasingly.

“He has to herd the souls of the damned, usually.” They walk along a path strewn with strange rocks, and Rey studies them. Poe must have created them, these smooth, almost-gem like rocks that seem to contain their own glowing light. They’re beautiful, but Rey makes herself look up, and she gasps at the massive sky above them.

The top of whatever cavern she found herself in is miles above them, strikingly large formations of rock growing out of the ground, and out of the sky. Clouds form around the skybound formations, and flocks of what look like birds swoop overhead. Some are skeletal, she notes, but some are more like bats, and some are ravens, crows, and other clever birds that she’s always had a soft spot for.

The entire space glows with a gentle light, not harsh like the sun can be, but not cool like the moon, either, and Rey’s eyes widen as she gains a sense of just how large this place is.

“It’s beautiful,” she breathes, tugging on Poe’s arm, looking over at him with what are surely stars in her eyes. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“I see it every day.” Poe shrugs, but he looks thoughtful. “It is nice to see someone enjoy it; most people do not visit here by will, so they rarely take the time to appreciate it.”

“That is fair.” Rey grins and feels like skipping - the air is cool and heavy with the scent of earth and water, and Rey loves it, breathing deeply and feeling herself grow more giddy. “But still, what a magnificent place you’ve made.”

“Thank you,” Poe murmurs. “I find that I care for your opinion...more than I should.” He does not elaborate, but butterflies lift in her stomach nonetheless.

They approach a large palace with grounds filled with odd, twisted trees. Rey squints, but she cannot determine the species.

“This is the western palace,” Poe announces, sweeping his hand out broadly. “Would you like a tour?”

“Very much so,” Rey says eagerly.

They walk through the grounds and the building at a leisurely pace, and Rey startles the first few times when servants appear from walls or the ground to move something or to see if they require assistance. They are dead, Rey knows, but they treat Poe with deference and near-affection, and he is kind and respectful to each one in turn. They seem most fascinated with her, but Poe gives them a look whenever they inquire after “the lady,” and eventually the servants who appear stop asking (as though the word has spread that their master has brought a guest, and she is not to be questioned).

“I never imagined this realm to be so large,” Rey says thoughtfully, gazing out a window on the third floor. “Or lovely.”

“This part is lovely,” Poe assents. “There are other places that are not so lovely.”

“There are other places?” Rey raises her eyebrows. She cannot even see the edge of this realm from the window - it fades into mist, what seems like several hundred miles away. “Surely this is as large as Greece itself.”

“It is.” Poe smiles at her. “But it is larger. And there are other parts to this realm, other planes and dimensions, that I also must care for.”

“How do you do it?” Rey asks, perching up on the windowsill, turning her back on the landscape to better study his face. “Aren’t you tired?”

“Incredibly so.” There are lines at his eyes, and at his mouth, and the wild black curls of his head are singed with silver (but, Rey thinks this makes him look more handsome, if anything).

“And lonely?” She whispers this part, and Poe clears his throat.

“Yes.”

A moment blossoms between them like a rare hothouse flower, and Rey finds herself leaning in, drawn to him, her spirit calling out to his. She knows his calls back, but Poe pulls away and offers her his hand. “Let’s get you back to the surface.”

They exit the palace, and Rey waves forlornly at Cerberus, who howls behind them as Poe leads her up the sloping ground. It is much faster with Poe at her side, and she realizes he must be controlling it.

The night waits for them at the top of their ascent, and Poe kisses her hand gently, a brush of his lips over her knuckles. “Goodnight.” She releases his hand reluctantly, and once again, his eyes are on her as he vanishes into the underworld.

***

She and Poe often walk together at night, when maidens should be sleeping.

While Ahsoka had pursed her lips at first when Rey begged her to help conceal her meetings with Poe, her most recent clash with Anakin had her relenting and allowing them to meet under the cover of the moon. “I will do my best to hide you,” Ahsoka tells her somberly. “But if it comes down to it, I will deny any knowledge to Anakin. And be careful - I do not want to see my friend being harmed over a man.”

 _But he’s not a man,_ Rey wants to protest, just barely managing to stop herself. _He’s so much more than that._

Poe’s humor is gentle, as are his moods. He laughs sweetly when she tells him stories of falling into the river or playing pranks on her mother, and he often makes her laugh with his own stories of his wild youth. She’s heard stories, of course, of his incredible strength and assistance in overthrowing the titans, but Poe is not prone to violence like her father, nor changeable like Lando. Instead, he is even-tempered, thoughtful, and kind.

Once, they find a bird, dead on the path, and Poe actually stops to mourn the small beast. To Rey, all too aware of the brutal tangle of nature and the inherent violence therein (she thinks her acceptance of violence is the closest connection she has to her father), it seems a waste of time, not that she’d tell Poe this. All things die - and she has a feeling gods might too, one day.

“It is very sweet of you to care about so small a thing,” Rey comments lightly as they walk on, her hand tucked into his arm.

“No thing is too small to care about.” Poe gazes down the path, and she wonders what he sees. “I know the name of each being in my realm; I know the last thought they had while living, I know the names of those they left behind, I know their fears and their sadness. All beings come to me, in time, and I care for each one of them, I see that each one is taken care of, no matter how tiring.”

“And who cares for you?” Rey asks, their footsteps a soft whisper-hush over the grass. Poe does not answer, but his other hand does come up to cover hers, squeezing it gently before releasing her.

They meet like this for many nights in a row; just for a stolen hour, they walk together, and Rey learns about Poe. She realizes with striking clarity that she’s come to love him one night, with Ahsoka’s light shining down on them, the silver beams dancing on his curls, his lips curled in his typical, patient smile. Rey loves him, and she has to let him go not three minutes after her realization.

“Goodnight,” Poe says, bending as always to kiss her knuckles. But Rey tightens her grip, and shakes her head violently.

“Stay,” Rey begs, feeling silly. “Please. Just - just for tonight. I don’t want to say goodbye just yet.”

Poe shakes his head, and tears prick at her eyes. _Foolish girl._ “I cannot.” His eyes are so sad; but, also, the kindest she’s ever seen.

“Why?” His hands surround hers, and he lifts them to his lips to kiss tenderly. “I want you to stay. I want...you.” Her boldness makes her blush; her name is not Kore for nothing, and Poe flinches. “Do you not want me?” It hurts to ask, but after seeing his wince, she must.

“I’ve been trapped in the underworld for thousands of years,” Poe says in a low voice. “I accepted my lot, and I did my best. I kept my head low, and avoided the conflicts of mortal men and gods, and - and I never wanted trouble. But _you._ ” He exhales slowly, and his eyes burn with a light she’s never seen when he lifts them to his face. “You are trouble, and I find that I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anything.”

“So stay,” Rey repeats her request, stepping close to him. “Stay here, and you can have me.”

“I…” He stops himself. “ _We_ should not see each other again.” Cold dread settles in her stomach, but Rey is stubborn - she gets that from her mother.

“And why not?”

“It would...complicate your life,” Poe explains hesitantly. “Ruin it, even. And I could not bear that.”

“And what if I cannot bear never seeing you again?” Rey demands. “Although I suppose it is easier for you.” She has known him but for a few months _,_ and yet something in her sings with the truth that this is _destiny,_ this is the tapestry laid out for her by the galaxy. Poe is her future - and he is denying them that chance. She almost feels angry for it.

“Do not” - Poe’s hands are at her waist, and he pulls her in - “say such a thing. I do not say this lightly. I say this to save you.”

“Save me from what?” Rey knows she is pushing too hard, but she needs to know. “From my own choices? What if I choose to see you again? What if I choose to be with you?” Their faces are inches apart, and Rey bridges the distance slightly more, leaning in, challenging him to answer her.

Poe groans, but he kisses her, and Rey has never been kissed, but she knows this is exactly perfect. She whimpers softly, a sound Poe must mistake for hesitance, for he pulls away. “Again,” Rey says greedily, drunk as though off wine. “Kiss me again.” He complies, and they sway together, under the watchful gaze of the moon, and when his tongue meets hers, Rey knows she will never change her mind.

“So this is goodbye?” She asks tearfully when they’ve broken apart, and Poe gasps as though she’d wounded him. “This is the last time? You kiss me with the intent of saying goodbye?”

Poe swears, low and violent, and the ground beneath them shakes. “If you mean to be with me, I cannot stay above,” he warns her. “You would have to go with me.”

“I will,” Rey promises, no doubt in her heart. She has seen the underworld; she does not fear it. If it is the only way she can be with him, she will gladly go. “I would go with you.”

“Then wait for me.” Poe kisses her again. “In the clearing we met. Tomorrow, I will come for you.”

She reluctantly releases him, and Poe turns to watch her, his eyes sad but hopeful, before he vanishes from sight once more.

***

The next day, Poe comes precisely as promised, on a chariot pulled by skeletal horses that eye the lush green landscape around them warily. Poe extends a hand to her, and she climbs aboard without a second thought, and the animals of the forest come forward to watch her departure.

The deer look especially sad, the deer that Ahsoka and Rey often ran alongside together, and Rey waves to them.

“I will be back,” Rey promises the deer, but Poe makes a noise of grief.

“You will not be allowed to,” Poe whispers, one hand tight on the reins, the other on her waist. “If you come with me, your life here will be forfeit. Is it - am I - worth that?”

“Of course you are.” Rey does not hesitate. “Yes, yes you are.”

“I cannot give you anything but myself, and my kingdom.” Poe eyes the sky warily, and Rey feels urgency thrumming under her skin. Anakin cannot remain ignorant of this for much longer. “I do not have much to offer. All the jewels under the surface will be yours, and precious metals, but-”

“I care nothing for that.” Rey puts her hand on the side of his face, and Poe stills, almost like a marble statue, his eyes fluttering shut, his handsome face quieting in its agitation. “I only want you. If I must forsake life to have you in death, then I will.”

“You would be my queen,” Poe studies her face, and she yearns for movement, she yearns to be under the surface, where it is safe, and free from her father’s watchful eye. “I would listen to you in all respects, you would have _power._ ”

The idea does interest her, but Rey leans forward and kisses him, and she lets her teeth bite into his bottom lip, almost to the point where she would draw blood, were he a mortal. Poe moans deeply and holds her close to him, and even when they break apart, he holds her close. “Go,” Rey whispers. Poe spurs the horses forward, and they hurtle forward, across the meadow and down through the plains, towards the chasm that yawns before them.

On some semi-buried instinct, Rey hides her face in Poe’s chest, right before they cross through, afraid to look up at the sky, or around at the surface, at her father and mother’s realms one last time. Poe smells of smoke, and water, and some holy fire that she cannot name, and she breathes in deeply, calming herself, and then -

They are safe. The horses carry them through the realm with an impossible swiftness, winding down towards a palace made of rock that glows a soft white in the constant half-light of the underworld. “This is not where we came last time,” Rey notes, for something to say, as the horses land on the ground.

Attendants rush forward, appearing from the mist, and begin to guide the horses away.

“I rule over the entire realm.” Poe laughs, and as always Rey marvels at the sound, privately wondering if she is the only one who has heard him laugh. They walk towards the entrance to the palace, and Poe takes her hand to guide her. “I have homes throughout the underworld. This is the seat of power, though, where all edicts are issued, and all matters of business carried out.”

“Am I - a matter of business?” Her chest aches suddenly - Anakin and Poe are no fans of each other. Is she merely a pawn in an act of revenge against her father? Poe would not - he -

“What?” Poe halts, and his hand tightens around hers. “Of course not, _latria mu_.” Rey nods, her throat tightening at the endearment, and Poe tucks a strand of her hair behind her ear. “I brought you here because I intend to make you the queen of this realm.” A kiss on her forehead causes Rey’s eyes to shut in certain bliss. A kiss on her nose has her quivering. “I intend to make you mine.”

His lips capture hers, and Rey forgets her anxiety of the previous moment, sinking into the embrace. To her knowledge, the god of the underworld does not take lovers casually like her father, like her cousins, or like Lando, who rules the seas; to her knowledge, the god of the underworld has never had a queen. This is an incredible honor, and she thrills at the understanding that it is the first time any offer like this has been made. It makes her feel powerful. It makes her feel wanted.

Poe’s lips on hers certainly sweeten the feeling, curb it into something closer to love, farther from pride, and she allows herself to rejoice that she will have a husband who loves her, who wants her to have power.

They walk hand in hand to the palace, and Poe leads her to the throne room. A large, black throne sits at the end of the long hall, golden torches sitting in golden brackets, giving off an unnatural, warm light that should be eerie, but Rey finds comforting. A long table has been set out in front of the throne, laden heavily with game, fruit, and bread.

“What’s all this?” Rey asks in amazement, staring at the feast. She’s never seen so much food - she’s never had any need for food, not like a mortal, instead relying on ambrosia and nectar to stay nourished.

“My attendants were very excited to hear that I had at last found a queen.” Poe’s smile is fond, and Rey appreciates deeply this side of Poe that no one else seems to speak about. “They’ve been teasing me for millennia to settle down.” Rey stops at the table and examines all the fine items. “By all means, help yourself, Kalonia will be thrilled to hear that you enjoyed it. If you didn’t, she’d probably slap me for being inhospitable.”

“She’d hit the god of the underworld?” Rey grins at him and snags a pomegranate from the table; her absolute favorite fruit, the kind she usually indulges in on languid, hot afternoons while basking in a stream.

“Kalonia is frightful. Absolutely lovely, but definitely not one to be crossed. In life, she was a well-respected healer. You’ll meet her, in time.”

“Where is everyone?” Rey asks, looking around the hall. Poe blushes - he definitely does, and Rey looks at him in amused surprise.

“They...thought we should like to be alone.” Poe chooses the words carefully, as she can almost see him mulling over each one before saying it. “If… you meant that you wanted to be my queen, then we’d have to…”

“Marry,” Rey finishes for him when he does not. “And what happens after we marry?”

“Whatever you wish.” Poe pulls a papyrus scroll out of his robes and holds it out to her. “A contract, if you’d like to...examine it.” Rey takes it delicately, and Poe takes the pomegranate from her, an even exchange.

He settles into the throne, and Rey stands in front of him, reading through the contract. It’s clearly written, and obviously written more for her benefit - it states very clearly that she is to have an equal share in his kingdom, that she has free reign of herself, and her own palaces, so on and so forth, and Rey smiles at it. She looks up for a moment and sees Poe lounging in his throne, his hand in front of his mouth as he gazes at her, and her breath catches once more; he is so terribly handsome, and the heat in her gut, the one that is no longer that strange, the one that she recognizes as lust, now, builds powerful.

Rey decides to do something about it. They are alone, after all.

She climbs onto the throne, a leg on either side of Poe’s lap. He stiffens in surprise at her movement, but his eyes are dark and hooded when she looks into them. Rey pretends to go back to the contract. Poe still holds the fruit, so Rey idly comments, “I always did love pomegranates.”

Taking her cue, Poe rips the fruit in half, and the blood-red seeds look like a thousand tiny hearts, spiraling through the pomegranate. “Would you like some?” He asks softly, and Rey nods. She hands him the contract, and reclaims the fruit.

“You should sign it first,” she says softly, and Poe clears his throat and nods, pulling out a reed brush and signing where appropriate. Rey begins to pluck seeds from the fruit, and she holds them to his lips while he signs, one jewel-like seed at a time. His tongue teases her fingers as she feeds them to her, and Rey settles in more where she’s straddling his lap. By the sixth seed, her fingertips are stained red, and she unmistakably brushes against something hard, under Poe’s chiton, that certainly was not there when she sat down.

“Oh,” she says quietly, a rush of breath, as she looks down at his lap. The fabric is bunched around what is surely his cock, and his cock is more than interested in these proceedings.

“Oh.” Poe chuckles darkly and sets the contract aside and takes the pomegranate from her. “At the risk of sounding greedy...I do want you.” He adds, in a low voice, “Badly.”

“And I want you,” Rey answers, as though he does not already know this, as though she has not confessed it. Her chest tightens at his next action.

Poe plucks a seed and sets it between his teeth before leaning in, and running the plump, cool jewel from her neck, to her collarbone to her chest. Rey shivers and holds his arm tightly, and Poe’s hands grip her waist and push her down more, onto the hardness under his chiton. Rey gasps and wiggles her hips, trying to increase the friction, and Poe allows her, sitting back to watch her gyrate, the seed disappearing behind his soft lips.

“That feels-” Rey shivers instead of finishing, and Poe smirks at her, the expression on his face undeniably heady. Whatever thoughts she previously had about Poe’s status as a bachelor vanish from her mind when Poe plucks another seed with his fingers, and uses his other hand to stroke along her collarbone, down her chest, to where her chiton closes in front of her breasts. Rey nods when he looks beseechingly at her, and with a quick movement, Poe tugs the chiton down and out of the way; Rey thanks the universe that she is not wearing undergarments, that she always forgoes them, because this means Poe has unencumbered access to her sensitive breasts.

He takes the seed he just removed from the fruit and delicately traces a line down her sternum, his eyes on her face. Rey swallows and allows herself to fully feel the cool path of the seed, her eyes fluttering shut, her hips still grinding down over his cock, pressing against the small bud at the apex of her sex. It feels _divine,_ to have this much attention focused on her pleasure.

Next, Poe takes the seed and runs it over her nipple, and Rey’s back arches involuntarily from the bolt of lust that goes right to her core. “You are so beautiful,” Poe murmurs, watching her hungrily the whole time. “So fair, so magnificent-”

He switches to the other nipple, and Rey discovers with great joy that this feels just as pleasant as the last. “May I please put my mouth upon your skin, so I might taste you?” Poe asks solemnly, and Rey nods eagerly. With a smile that makes him appear more youthful, Poe pops the seed in his mouth and then leans forward and wraps his lips around the nipple he’d just been attending to. Rey almost shrieks, lifting off his lap slightly, but Poe holds her firmly in place with one hand while the other teases her other breast. “As I expected,” he announces, when he pulls away with an indecent noise. “Heavenly.”

The joke makes them both giggle for a moment, but Rey can tell Poe is not anywhere close to being done with pleasuring her, judging by the way his eyes darken, and his fingers linger over her breasts. “I would like to touch you.” He draws a line between her breasts, over her still-clothed stomach, and then presses his palm over her pelvis. “Here.” Rey nods eagerly, and kneels upright, so Poe can slip his hand under her chiton.

Later, Rey hopes they retire somewhere more private, so they can undress and enjoy each other more fully - but something feels so deliciously right, doing this on his literal seat of power, out in the open, unafraid and unembarrassed of the pleasure they are about to bring to each other. It is an intoxicating feeling - and he is _king,_ and she, when she signs, will be _queen._ They can do this, they are allowed to do this -

The spiral of her thoughts is interrupted when Poe’s fingers slip over her bud, and Rey’s legs shake slightly at the intense burst of pleasure. With one hand under her skirts, Poe holds a seed up to her lips at the same time a finger slips into the tightness of her body. Rey’s mouth pops open at the intrusion, and then she leans forward to bite at the seed, taking it into her mouth, the flavor bursting across her tongue as Poe begins to stroke and tease her.

“Hells, you feel so good,” Poe marvels, eyes wide. Rey rocks against his fingers shamelessly, panting slightly as she works her hips against his fingers. Poe stares up at her, sitting his throne, and Rey thinks _I get to make the lord of the underworld look like this._ He adds another finger, and holds up another seed, and this time, Rey wraps her lips around his fingers, sucking them in, her tongue stealing the seed free. Poe moans obscenely with the digits still in her mouth, and when she releases them, it is her turn to make a suggestion.

“I would like to touch you,” she says imperiously, and Poe’s eyes flash. “Before we …”

“Of course.” They find a way to part the folds of his chiton without interrupting his fingers inside her cunt, and he whispers to her how to stroke the hard, slightly red flesh that emerges between his legs. Rey adores the velvet-smoothness of the skin there, and she wishes she had nothing but time to just examine it, the way the head juts out from the top when she pulls down the right way, the odd bits at the bottom that look much like a fruit themselves.

Both their fingers are purple-red by this point, stained by their shared fruit, and still they eat them. Poe kisses her roughly, her hand stroking his cock rapidly while his fingers thrust into her body, and as his tongue slips into her mouth, he pushes a seed in with it, and Rey pulls away to swallow the fruit. His hand runs admiringly over her breast, and Rey cannot stand it anymore.

“Fuck me,” she begs, the heat in her gut requiring it. “Make me yours.”

Poe nods, at a loss for words, clearly, and guides her over his cock. They push his chiton out of the way more, a low growl in Poe’s throat when it impedes them for even a quarter of a minute, and they both hiss when her slick heat rubs over the head of his cock. He holds it still as Rey sinks down, her mouth open no doubt comically wide, and Poe moans something that sounds terribly like her name when she is fully seated.  

“Well?” Rey lifts herself and drops back down. “This is new to me - are you not going to help?” Poe laughs at her challenging tone, and with his hands firm on her hips, the pomegranate tucked into the throne at their side, he begins to thrust, leaning back against the ornate metal structure they sit on, guiding her up and down his cock. Every so often, he hits a spot inside of her that has her moaning with unladylike loudness and appreciation, but as Poe’s thrusts only increase in strength and enthusiasm with each moan, she can assume he does not mind.

He feeds her three more seeds while she rides him, his cock thick and hard inside her body, his fingers often slipping down to stroke at her bud - Rey holds her skirts out of the way eventually to encourage this action - and finally, with the last seed still in her mouth, Rey feels her body tighten in a way it never has before, and she feels her muscles leave her control, her body writhing, and unnameable noises falling from her lips. She pitches forward, clutching Poe’s shoulder, and bites down on the last seed, the sunbright burst of tartness across her tongue grounding her even as she nearly screams into Poe’s shoulder, lost to all sense.

Poe’s hips thrust up a few more times, his arms tight around her, before they stutter, and he groans, the noise a pleasant rumble in her ears. With it comes a sense of warmth and completion, and Rey knows that she carries his essence inside her, a thought that makes her ears burn, and her lips smirk.

They stay like this for a few moments; Poe merely holds her on his lap, kissing her shoulder gently. Rey sits upright so she can kiss his lips, and Poe accepts her kiss happily, the taste of their shared fruit undeniable. Their foreheads touch when they break apart.

“Sign,” he whispers, gesturing at the contract to his side. “...if you want to stay.”

Rey does not take her eyes off his face while she signs her name quickly, leaving streaks of bleeding-red along the papyrus. She sets the reed brush down, and she laughs, softly, marveling at the feeling of Poe - her _husband_ \- still inside her body. She took him in, just as he took her in to his home, and now they are equals.

“ _Latria mu_ ,” Poe whispers reverently, reaching up with stained fingertips to tuck her hair behind her ear, a tender gesture that still makes her breath catch. “My beloved queen.”

“ _Agapi mu_.” Rey kisses him, the tart taste of the pomegranate still heavy on their tongues and lips. “My husband.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Two things.
> 
> 1\. I actually have another Hades/Persephone AU outlined/partly written where /Rey/ is Hades, and Poe is Persephone, and that's basically the Disney version of this ( I don't know how else to phrase it)
> 
> 2\. There could easily, easily be another chapter to this - I have it outlined, and Anakin discovers where Rey went, and angst ensues, etc. etc.


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